Aideen Hayden (Labour) | Oireachtas source

However, I want to address a different question. This is the third time that Ms Feehily has been before this committee, as far as I can recall. On one previous occasion she was before us regarding a letter sent to people in receipt of an old age pension about a potential tax liability. One of the issues that came across very clearly during that exchange was the fact that there was a communications problem vis-à-vis the Revenue Commissioners and the public. I fully take on board what Ms Feehily said in her statement about the LPT being a new tax. It is indeed a new tax and not one that anyone here would have liked to introduce. However, there are benefits to extending the tax take across as broad an area as possible. I am very concerned that, according to the statistics Ms Feehily has given us, over 50% of people are paying by debit or credit card. Has the Revenue Commissioners examined why people chose those particular payment methods? If one were to match the payment method chosen with the income profile of the payee, I suspect one will probably find that many of those paying by debit card in particular, are those who have a cash-only card and do not have access to the wide range of financial accounts that better-off people would have. One of my concerns about the current debacle over the payment date is that a lot of those people who will be impacted by the payment being taken before December are in the lower income profile. Has Revenue done any research to establish the who, why, where and when regarding those people who are paying by debit card, given that the logical choice would be to select the one single debit authority payment option?

My second question-----